Sølve SundsbøPink, a vegetarian, is also a huge supporter of PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — and on behalf of the organization, she’s asking for SeaWorld to reconsider its policy of keeping orcas and other marine mammals cooped up in tanks.
During SeaWorld’s annual online shareholder meeting, Pink submitted a question electronically that read, “As a mother, I would never take my kids anywhere that keeps intelligent, sensitive beings in intensive confinement. Children are impressionable, and the last thing I would want to teach my kids is that ‘might makes right’ or that it’s OK to bully and exploit someone just because they look different from us.”
“But that’s exactly what SeaWorld does,” it continued, “by locking up animals who, in their ocean homes, would swim up to 140 miles a day, dive to great depths, cooperate with their pods to find food, communicate in their own dialects, and transmit their own culture from generation to generation.”
“At SeaWorld, all these animals are able to do is swim in endless circles,” the question continued. “Some are so frustrated that they break their teeth by gnawing on the concrete corners and metal bars of their tiny tanks.”
The question ended by asking, “When will SeaWorld transfer its orcas and other marine mammals to seaside sanctuaries to save them — and itself?”
A PETA spokesperson confirms to ABC Radio that the question was both submitted electronically and emailed to the company’s interim CEO John T. Reilly. So far, there has been no answer.
PETA has owned stock in SeaWorld since 2013 so it can inform the shareholders of animal-welfare issues at the park. According to the non-profit, at least 40 orcas have died at SeaWorld.
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